Wild Frontiers

5 Under The Radar Destinations That Should Be On Your Bucket List

Want to get away but not where everyone else is going? Maybe something a little more adventurous, a little more off the beaten path? You're not alone. As travel becomes more and more accessible (today everyone's been to Paris and Copenhagen), destinations previously ignored are becoming en vogue.

"It's not just for the bragging rights but because travellers today want to go somewhere unique, somewhere away from the other tourists," says Jonny Bealby, founder of Wild Frontiers adventure travel company. "It's all about taking people away from what they’re used to and showing them something completely different."

We spoke with him about the destinations gaining popularity, all of which Wild Frontiers take tour groups to, reserved for the highly adventurous. Plan a trip before they become just like anywhere else.

Iran

"Syria and Libya being gone, Iran represents one of the few really good cultural destinations in the Middle East you can go to safely," says Jonny.

"With the changing in the Foreign Office travel advice with regards to Iran last year [following the historic July nuclear deal], travel companies and tourists have really focused on it for 2016."

Even before sanctions lifted, the number of foreigners visiting Iran grew 12 percent in each of the past two years. And rightly so. The country is home to 19 Unesco-registered sites, buzzing bazaars, archaeological and historical sites like Persepolis (dating back to 515BC, built just before Xerxes the Great invaded Greece, which you may remember from history class), warm people and affordable accommodation. Get there quick, though: The first international hotel deal in three decades just went through as an Iranian firm signed with French hotel giant AccorHotels (the people behind Nobis hotels).

"It’s interesting how the perception of the country has suddenly change while the reality of the country on the ground hasn’t really," notes Jonny. "And that’s what’s led to all these bookings."

Iraqi Kurdistan

Prepare for a shock: trips to Iraqi Kurdistan are booking up quickly this year, mainly due to people wanting to travel "off the grid," says Jonny. And off the grid Kurdistan certainly is. Though the semi-autonomous region does share a 1,000km (620 mile)-long frontier with IS-held territory, stretching from the Iranian border in central Iraq all the way to the Syrian border, it also includes more welcoming territory in its northern provinces, Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaymaniya. Autonomous of the central Iraqi government and ruled by the Kurdistan Regional Government, they're home to lush mountains and valleys, and westerners are welcomed.

Having celebrated its 25th year of independence (amid the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from three northern provinces after the First Gulf War) and having been spared the war of 2003, Kurdistan-Iraq is a very different place from central and southern Iraq. We can pretty much guarantee that's somewhere you're friends haven't been.

Mongolia

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"A lot of people are really wanting to get away from the main tourist sites, from being plugged in permanently, and have a much more remote and out there experience," says Jonny. Mongolia will do the trick in convincing you you've travelled to another century.

From the mountains of the north to the Gobi desert in the south, this vast country is all dramatic mountain scenery, spectacular deserts and vast areas of unpopulated land. With 30% of the population living in nomadic tribes, you'll be hard-pressed to find a McDonald's anywhere outside the capital Ulaan Baatar.

India

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Maybe you've been to Goa or trekked the classic Golden Triangle route. But what about Kashmir in north west India or central Indian region Madhya Pradesh?

"With the Jungle Book film coming out we're seeing a peaked interest in the wildlife trips to India," confirms Jonny. "With the Tibetan influence dropping down into Kashmir where you have a mix of Sufi and Islamic culture, the region has been on the rise for a while now and offers the Indian traveller something completely different."

Visit monasteries in Leh Ladakh, their architecture a unique blend of Buddhist and Tibetan, trek in the remote Nubra Valley, once closed to foreigners, and drive the world’s highest road at 5,600m.

In central India's Madhya Pradesh, visit tiger reserves and national parks. "You have to be a bit more lucky in terms of accommodation but the sites to be seen there are amazing," says Jonny. "And tourist numbers are a tiny fraction of what goes on in Rajasthan and Kerala."

Georgia

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A place nobody really knows much about that's only a four hour flight away? That'll be the Caucuses.

"You can get up into the Caucasus Mountains, and be back by your desk within the week," says Jonny. "But it also has a really interesting culture. It's got the whole history of the silk road and it was the third country to adopt Christianity."

Sandwiched between the snow-covered peaks of the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, Georgia is influenced by a rich mix of cultural traditions, from the Persians and the Greeks, to the Turks and the Russians.

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